Limassol keeping Cyprus out of Covid safe zone

Cyprus remains above the safety threshold of 150 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people, despite a drop in the diagnosed cases, recording a cumulative impact of 164.3 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the two-week period between February 3-16.

According to a fresh national surveillance report published Friday, epidemiological improvement has been observed in all districts barring Limassol, where cases remain above the threshold set by the ECDC.

In fact, the health ministry said that if the situation in Limassol was similar to the situation in other districts, then the island would have been marked ‘green’ by ECDC benchmarks, which would have allowed a speedier relaxation of restrictions.

The positivity rate remains low and is following a downward trend, though to a lesser degree than that recorded in previous reports. According to the results of the ministry’s testing program that has put rapid tests at the forefront of the battle, Limassol’s positivity rate stands at around 0.5%.  

Overall, 5.1% (1,666) of people with COVID-19 received hospital care, until February 17, while 176 cases (10.6% of all hospitalized patients) have been admitted to ICU.

The cumulative impact in Famagusta is 45 cases per 100,000 people, in Larnaca 75.2/100,000, in Limassol 390,7/100,000, in Nicosia 83.4/100,000 and in Paphos 46.1/100,000.

According to the report, by February 16, a total of 32,421 coronavirus cases were diagnosed, while 227 coronavirus fatalities were recorded, signalling a case fatality risk of 0.7%. The COVID-19 associated mortality is 25.6 per 100,000 population. Deaths occurred in 153 men (67.4%) and 74 (32.6%) women; the median age of all COVID-19 associated deaths was 81 years.

On February 16, 91 people were still hospitalized. The median age of patients still hospitalized was 66 years, while 62.6% (57) were males, and 52.8% (48) were from the Limassol district. 18 cases were in ICUs, of a median age of 70 years. Twelve (66.7%) patients currently in ICUs have pre-existing conditions.

During the two-week period between February 3-16, 1,459 cases were diagnosed. The 14-day cumulative diagnosis rate was 164.3 per 100,000 population. The median age was 38 years, 51.7% were female (755), and 48.3% male (704).

Among the 1,459 cases diagnosed since February 3, 970 (66.5%) were reported in the Limassol district, 289 (19.8%) in Nicosia, 112 (7.7%) in Larnaca, 44 (3%) in Paphos, 22(1.5%) in Famagusta, and 22 (1.5%) were reported either in the British bases or had a residence abroad, or information was not available. 0.9% (13) were imported and 99.1% (1,446) were locally-acquired.
 
During those two weeks, 27,674 PCR and 402,572 rapid antigen tests were performed (3,116.4 RT PCR and 45,334.7 rapid antigen tests per 100,000 population).
    
By February 17, among cases alive, 88.6% (28,468) of coronavirus cases have recovered/released from isolation.

According to the Ministry’s report on deaths, also published on Friday, January 2021 was the month with the highest number of coronavirus deaths since the start of the pandemic, marking 31% of total deaths or 86 people.
 
According to data from the EuroMOMO network (European Mortality Monitoring), there is no excessive mortality during the pandemic in Cyprus.